Baguio Doctors Offers Prvnc’l Hospitals to Set Up Own COVID Facilities

April 12, 2020 Metro BLISTT

BAGUIO CITY (April 8, 2020) – Physicians in Baguio City are willing to help colleagues in the medical profession in neighboring provinces set up their own Coronavirus disease (COVID19) control and treatment systems to enhance the capabilities of their hospitals versus COVID19.
Mayor Benjamin Magalong met with local physicians who expressed concern that the lack of preparedness of hospitals in Regions 1 and 2 would force them to refer COVID-19 patients to the city’s facilities like the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center.
Doing so would put to waste the city’s efforts to control the spread of the virus in Baguio City which had been effective.
For straight 11 days now, no new positive COVID19 case was recorded in the city.
Magalong earlier said Baguio is still willing to accept patients from other areas saying the preparations being done in the city are anyway set in that direction especially that the BGHMC is set to be designated as the COVID-19 regional treatment center.
But Doctors led by BGHMC Medical Chief Dr. Ricardo Ruñez and St. Louis University Hospital of the Sacred Heart Medical Director Dr. Paul Quitiquit said that while aiding these hospitals with their patients cannot be avoided, there has to be a limit to encourage them to develop their own capabilities.
Quitiquit said it is prudent to just assist them to set up their own quarantine and critical care units to empower them to develop their resources and take care of their own patients instead of letting them just rely on BGH.
This is considering that these hospitals are of the same category and level with the BGHMC.
“We are better off here and I like the idea of helping them but what if our hospital and our health workers get overwhelmed,” Quitiquit warned.
Dr. Thea Cajulao, head of the Infectious Disease Specialist division of the BGHMC said they worry of the risk that the frontliners would take due to exposure to the COVID-19 positive patients from other areas.
“There’s a limit to how much exposure the frontliners can have.” Magalong agreed that the city can provide assistance to the provincial hospitals even as he said preparations will continue to take the direction of helping patients from other areas if the need arises.
Artemio A. Dumlao/ABN